This past March, I headed over to Jacksonville Collective Con to cover the event for my YouTube Channel. At the Con, I was able to conduct some really neat interviews with some of the guests they had. However, there was one guest that really stood out going into this event - that was none other than famous Voice Actor Kyle Hebert. Being such a fan of his work on Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, let’s just say I was really hoping to speak with him.

To my luck, I had the opportunity to speak with Kyle about his extensive career in Professional Voice Acting. Here is an overview of some of the topics we were able to discuss in this interview.

Do all the voices come naturally to you?

Kyle’s resume and the amount of character voices he’s done over the years is through the roof. With each different character’s voice sounding so distinct, naturally I was curious- Do all the voices come naturally to you? And the short answer to that is: Yes. Kyle went on to explain how he has a wide range of voices that comes pretty easily to him. He explained how doing the voice of “Gohan” in Dragon Ball Z was a little pitched up on the show, and how doing Dragon Ball Z was really his big break into Voice Acting. Kyle went on to do short impressions of “Ryu” from the video game Street Fighter, as well as the “Narrator Voice” from Dragon Ball Z & “Kiba” from Naruto, showcasing his ability to change voices easily.

Born Prankster then?

With his collection of different voices, I had to ask Kyle if he’s done any phone call pranks on people in the past, maybe switching up the voice mid conversation. Kyle said he has not done any pranks but has been requested several times by people to do a voice prank at a Drive Thru. Giving us a sneak peek of what that would be like, Kyle used his Dragon Ball Z “Narrator Voice” to give us an impression of ordering a “SUPER SAIYAN” sized Big Mac from McDonald’s. Needless to say, if he does do a Drive Thru Voice Prank one day, it would go viral for sure.

Voice Acting Procedure

How does the Voice Acting Procedure work? Well it depends. Kyle explained for Video Games and Anime Dubbing it is done more isolated, without other castmates, and just reading your own lines. That is because of technical constraints where they are trying to match lip sync with a video or trying to match the timing with the Japanese Audio if they are trying to adapt a Japanese Game into English. With American Cartoons (ex. Family Guy, Futurama), it’s a different method. The audio for the show is done before the animation, so that gives the castmates the chance to record together. For Kyle, that type of work is most fun because you get a chance to play off the other’s performances and have more freedom for improv.

Meeting Fans at Collective Con

If you have some sort of platform, I can only imagine one of the most humbling honors is to meet the people that support you and have been impacted by your work. After almost 20+ years of doing Professional Voice Acting, Kyle elaborated that getting to meet his fans in person is “icing on the cake.” Kyle had a great analogy of the entertainment industry being almost like “therapy” for people. The entertainment industry is supposed to be a way to escape from the real world, so to have that much of a major impact on someone is something that “means the world” to Kyle.

I want to thank Kyle Hebert for taking the time to do this interview. It was a real treat to speak with him about his career. Jacksonville Collective Con was a successful event & the next Con I plan to be at is MegaCon in Orlando, FL. If you enjoy Celebrity Interviews, please consider subscribing to my YouTube Channel “Tbautos512” as all the support is appreciated.